To Get Married - Chapter 23.2

Chapter 23.2

“Still short,” Manzhu said with a laugh, tousling Lu Yudong’s bangs.

Lu Yudong mumbled softly twice, lowering her head and mimicking Manzhu’s steps.

Whenever she was beside Manzhu, she was this kind of person who followed her every move, and this hadn’t changed for many years.

They walked all the way to the door of Not a Stranger, arriving at only 3:30 in the afternoon.

Huanxi heard the sound and quickly ran to unlock the door and took the things from their hands.

“Durian!” Huanxi exclaimed.

Xiaozhi jogged over upon hearing the noise and also exclaimed: “Durian!”

Clearly, the walnuts were completely overshadowed by the durians.

“Sister Manzhu, what made you decide to buy durian today?” Huanxi said, casually placing the durians on the bar counter.

“Yudong hasn’t eaten it before, so I bought it for her to try,” Manzhu said.

“I haven’t eaten durian yet either,” Xiaozhi also walked to the bar counter and curiously poked the durian through its bag with her hand.

After saying that, she looked back at Lu Yudong and teased: “Our little Yudong is back from military training, all dark and tanned.”

Lu Yudong raised her head and, mimicking Manzhu’s tone from noon, said seriously: “A winter will bring it back!”

“Right, right, you’ll be fair again after a winter,” Huanxi smiled. She pressed her hands against the durian, deep in thought: “But… Sister Manzhu, I remember the boss said we can’t eat strong-smelling food in the shop.”

“Did he say that?” Manzhu stroked her chin, recalling the shop rules.

Xiaozhi gently nudged Huanxi and said: “What are you afraid of? The durian was bought by Sister Manzhu for Yudong to eat. We’re just freeloading. Does the boss dare to say anything?”

Huanxi was stunned for a moment, then realized: “That makes sense!”

Afterward, she glanced at the small knife used for cutting lemons next to the cocktail station and muttered softly: “How do we kill this thing? Will a small knife work?”

“Let Ergouzi kill it. Ergouzi is upstairs,” Xiaozhi said, turning to go upstairs to find him.

“Wait, Xiaozhi!” Manzhu stopped Xiaozhi: “Call the boss down directly.”

“Huh?” A look of confusion appeared in Xiaozhi’s eyes.

“Let the boss do it,” Manzhu pointed at the durian.

Xiaozhi blinked blankly, then nodded after recovering: “I’ll go now.”

Soon, Mu Chenshen was called downstairs by Xiaozhi.

He stood in front of the two durians and fell into deep thought. After pondering, he leaned against the bar counter and said with a look of exasperation: “I remember saying not to buy this kind of thing. The smell is very strong, really strong. If customers come in and smell…”

Mu Chenshen stopped mid-sentence. He suddenly noticed the ambiguous smile on Manzhu’s lips and felt his breath catch. He quickly put away his displeased look and changed his tone with a grin: “It wouldn’t be good for customers to smell it. You guys… can eat it in the kitchen.” As he spoke, he pointed toward the back kitchen.

Manzhu nodded in satisfaction: “Then take it there.”

“Alright,” Mu Chenshen responded, lifting both durians to the back kitchen.

After putting down the durians, he was about to turn and leave when Manzhu stopped him.

“Help open it,” Manzhu said.

“You should have bought ones with a crack when you were shopping. They’d break open with just a twist,” Mu Chensan grumbled softly. He turned back, found a small kitchen knife, and placed the durian on the cutting board.

Manzhu then said: “Can you open it with your hands? Don’t use a knife.”

“What?” Mu Chensan’s eye couldn’t help but twitch, and the hand holding the knife trembled slightly.

Manzhu pulled Lu Yudong forward two steps and pointed at the durian in Mu Chensan’s hand: “Yudong and I were saying you’re super amazing, and she didn’t believe it, so I specifically chose two of the toughest-looking ones.”

Mu Chensan was stunned for a moment. He looked down at Lu Yudong and saw the little girl’s eyes shining with adoration. He knew that this matter was about face. He would have to open this durian bare-handed today no matter what.

“Easy, this is easy,” Mu Chensan said, putting down the knife. His fingers searched for a leverage point on the spiky durian skin and easily split it into two halves.

Lu Yudong exclaimed “Wow!” and immediately started clapping: “Uncle Mu is so amazing!”

“Boss is so amazing!” Xiaozhi and Huanxi also clapped and cheered.

Mu Chensan smiled and handed one half to Lu Yudong, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt something wasn’t quite right.

He had cultivated for over two thousand years and possessed great abilities, yet here he was performing for a little girl, opening a durian bare-handed, with two juniors watching on the side.

Although he received applause, why did he feel so much like a monkey?

This would not do. He couldn’t be the only monkey.

“Your Sister Manzhu can do it too,” Mu Chensan said. “There’s another one. Let her open one for you to see.”

“I can’t,” Manzhu said.

“You can,” Mu Chensan insisted on dragging Manzhu into the predicament.

“I can, but I think it’s dirty,” Manzhu said with a faint smile.

“You…” Mu Chensan was momentarily speechless. He looked back and happened to see Yan Zhaomu, who had appeared at the door at some point. He quickly beckoned him over, leaned down, and said to Lu Yudong: “Your Master Shi can do it too.”

Yan Zhaomu walked over, looking utterly confused.

Mu Chensan instantly handed the other large durian to him: “Your apprentice wants to see you open this bare-handed!”

Hearing this, Yan Zhaomu snap broke open the durian in his hands.

Lu Yudong exclaimed “Wow!” again: “Master Shi is so amazing!”

“Brother Yan is so amazing!” Xiaozhi and Huanxi once again clapped and cheered.

Perfect. Having company as a monkey made it less awkward.

Mu Chensan nodded in satisfaction, walked to the side to wash his hands, and then left the kitchen.

“Boss, don’t you want to eat some?” Huanxi asked casually.

Mu Chensan waved his hand without looking back: “It’s disgusting.”

“It was so expensive,” Huanxi said, running over to try a piece.

The two durians, just as Mu Chensan said, were disgusting.

Everyone took a bite and then left them in the kitchen. Even Lu Yudong, who had been craving durian at noon, couldn’t take a second bite. It was as if the only meaning of buying them was to let Lu Yudong watch a performance far less visually spectacular than breaking a boulder on one’s chest.

Fortunately, Gou Hongjie wasn’t picky. When he came into the kitchen and smelled the scent, he devoured everything in no time, preventing any waste.

Huanxi was very surprised by this: “Oh my gosh, someone actually likes to eat durian?”

“That’s unbelievable!” Xiaozhi nodded.

In that moment, the two girls sounded just like the party that believed they had definitively won the sweet-and-savory debate, completely unable to understand people with tastes different from their own.

Ultimately, the two attributed Gou Hongjie’s liking for durian to the fact that he was a dog.

A dog, after all, liking stinky things was quite normal.

Gou Hongjie heard the discussion and was both annoyed and amused. He repeatedly emphasized that durian was a fruit that people who liked it loved, and those who didn’t couldn’t take an extra bite. It was like cilantro; one couldn’t assume that everyone who ate cilantro had a problematic palate just because they didn’t like it, right?

Just like that, the three spirits began chattering and debating whether durian was delicious or not.

Meanwhile, Lu Yudong, who had initially brought up durian and the source of this debate, was sitting at a small square table beneath the small performance stage in the bar area, shelling walnuts.

A large bowl of walnut kernels was in the center of the table, which was cluttered with walnut shells—this was preparation for the honey walnut kernels.

Manzhu, Mu Chensan, and Yan Zhaomu sat around her. The three of them didn’t need any tools, just crushing the walnuts bare-handed with a snap, shelling the kernels remarkably fast.

Only Lu Yudong held a nutcracker, slowly cracking them one by one, using the strength of both hands for each one.

As she cracked them, she couldn’t help but look up and ask seriously: “Will I be this amazing later?”

Mu Chensan looked up and asked: “Are you talking about shelling walnuts?”

Lu Yudong’s first reaction was to shake her head, but then she thought that she really did want to crush a walnut bare-handed. It looked so cool. So she nodded again.

Yan Zhaomu: “You, you ca-ca…”

Mu Chensan: “You can do it now.”

“Huh?” Lu Yudong was momentarily stunned, “I, I can’t do it.”

Yan Zhaomu: “Do-don’t use brute force. Try, try using… using…”

Mu Chensan: “Try using spiritual qi.”

Yan Zhaomu: “Co-co…”

Mu Chensan: “You need to concentrate the spiritual qi in your fingertips and then try to crush it. The spiritual qi mustn’t dissipate; if it dissipates, there’s no force.”

Lu Yudong blankly concentrated the spiritual qi in her fingertips. In the next second, she heard a “snap,” and the walnut in her hand genuinely shattered.

She was surprised and held the shattered walnut up to Manzhu: “Sister, look!”

Manzhu gave an affirmative look: “Your comprehension is good.”

“Shouldn’t you praise me for teaching well?” Mu Chensan immediately claimed credit.

Before Lu Yudong could even say thank you, she saw Yan Zhaomu snap off a corner of the table, stand up, kick a stool, and walk away with a cold face.

“Master Shi!” Lu Yudong stood up, wanting to chase after him.

Manzhu pulled her back: “Whoever caused the offense, let them offer the comfort. We won’t suffer for others.”